Up 53 from last week, out of 746 new roles overall. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

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Weekly Digest · Issue No. 17 · October 2, 2026

Thermoplastics roles rose 53 this week to 267 mentions, the biggest move across the materials classes we track. Total new postings came to 746 from 508 companies, with salary listed on 52 percent of them.

The Story This Week

Thermoplastics demand jumped this week. Where it's coming from:

Senior R&D Chemist
Beauty Quest Group | Rantoul, IL ($80K-$90K)
Product Development Engineer – Core Handles Engineer
Ford Motor Company | Dearborn, MI ($74K-$166K)
Manufacturing Engineer - Plastics Industry
#twiceasnice Recruiting | Green Bay, WI ($80K-$100K)
746
New Jobs
508
Companies
52%
Post Salary
$86-121K
Median Range

Readers opened 2,982 roles 6,730 times this week and logged 66 applications. Most opened: Process Engineer at CDimension.

Movers vs last week
▲ Thermoplastics +53▲ Composites +22▲ Coatings/films +16▼ Biomaterials -18▼ Electronic materials -14▼ Elastomers/rubber -11

Top Pick This Week

$48K-$109K listed · BS-level · H-1B sponsor
Intern TSA Group
Johnson & Johnson | Raritan, NJ | $48K-$109K
Develop and prototype new topical skin adhesives in J&J MedTech's wound closure R&D labs.
View Role

Quick Picks

Product Engineer
Garlock (Enpro Inc.) | Palmyra, NY ($75K-$115K)
Lead Build Engineer, Composites
Mach Industries | Huntington Beach, CA ($145K-$175K)
Finishing Operator
Hexcel Corporation | Casa Grande, AZ ($53K-$58K)

Experience Sweet Spot

How much experience do employers actually want?

• 89 open to fresh graduates (0 years)
• 312 want 3-7 years (mid-career sweet spot)
• 78 want 8+ years (senior roles)

Lab vs Floor

Where this week's roles actually take place:

Lab + manufacturing 45%
Manufacturing floor 27%
Lab/R&D 12%
Mixed 9%
Office/computational 7%

The Unicorn

Out of 746 postings this week, exactly one asks for Rigid Thermoplastics (Pvc, Abs, Asa, Hips, Polycarbonate). If that's you, this role has your name on it:

Product & Manufacturing Engineer
National Door Industries, Inc. | Haltom City, TX ($80K-$115K)

Overheard in a Job Description

“The Color Weigh-Up individual will weigh up pigments and additives for use in production.”

From a real posting: Color Weigh-Up (3rd shift) at RTP Company.

One thing you might not know

Type a city or ZIP into the search box to see roles within driving distance, remote ones included. Show me

Supported by

This week's digest is supported by readers like you. Hiring? Reach this audience.

Browse All 746 Jobs

That's the market this week. Looking for something specific, or spot a job we missed? Hit reply; a person reads every response.

Brenden, Crosslinked

P.S. Interviews degrade like polypropylene in sunlight unless you add stabilizer. Prepare accordingly.

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